Just beet it, beet it, beet it

Fa, la, la, la the holidays make time whirl by faster than a movie montage set to upbeat music. I cannot believe it is already the 14th!?! There were so many things I wanted to blog about, menu plans I wanted to get put together for you guys, and countless other foodie related to-do lists. But you know what they say, its better to be busy and working hard than relaxing poolside somewhere.... <- I am going to have to talk to whoever says sayings like this, because that relaxing option sounds way better!

Fa, la, la, la, I can't keep track of time...

In other news, the holidays bring out the need to bake in me, as I'm sure they do with most people. I had the good luck of stumbling upon a cookie recipe a while back that I really liked, but it wasn't vegan or gluten free. So I pinned it (oh yes, I am an avid pinner on pinterest you should check out the hundreds of pins I be rockin' http://pinterest.com/gotcatering/) and thought I would return to it another day. Let me now paint you a sad picture: a young woman logs into her pinterest account to pull up the Christmas cookie recipe she was so excited to try out, but what's this, the pin is no longer valid! The original site is missing!!! NooOoooOooooooOooooo!!!! Pinterest Fail!

This kind of trauma is right on par with breaking a nail or running out of baking powder mid cookie. I was forced to pick up the few pieces of memory I had of this recipe and run with it, and I have to say they turned out freaking delicious. May I present to you some delish vegan-gluten-free Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies! (No dye here folks, so when you get to the portion of the recipe that makes the pink/red color don't freak out. It will taste fan-freakin-tastic, and you will be happy you made them.)

Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

makes about 20 cookies

gluten free

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa flour

1 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 potato starch

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

3/4 cup earth balance (room temp)

1 extra large flax "egg" (1&1/2 tablespoons ground flax and 6 tablespoons warm water)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/4 cup beet puree (see recipe below)

1/4 cup peppermint water (see recipe below)

Beet Puree:

Ingredients:

1 large beet

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beet well and place on a baking sheet. (If you are partial to your baking sheets maybe cover them with foil as beet can stain!) Bake that beet for about 50-60 minutes, or until very tender. Once it is super tender remove from the oven and allow to cool. You need it to cool off enough for you to skin the beet and then place it in your blender or food processor. And then you are going to "beet it, beet it..No one wants to be defeated" hahaha, that had to be done, sorry. On a serious note, blend that beet up until you get a nice smooth puree. You may need to add a little bit of water to get the desired consistency. *This will be the dye that gets your candy cane pink/red. I told you there would be doubt, but believe me you will love these cookies and so will everyone you feed them to.

Picture of Beet Puree is borrowed from Green Little Bites as I was so excited to make the cookies I didn't stop to photograph this step. But this is what the puree looks like if you add a little water :)

Peppermint Water:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

In a small bowl whisk the two together. And tah-dah you have peppermint water. Apparently you can also buy this from the store, but this is cheaper and super easy. 

All right, cookie making time! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

In a bowl mix all your flours, starches, powders, and xanthan gum. Set aside. In a large bowl cream together your butter and sugars. Add the flax egg and beat the mixture well. Next add your vanilla and peppermint extracts (not your peppermint water). Once you have blended these ingredients, slowly add in your flour mixture. until a thick cookie dough is formed. 

Now split the thick dough into two parts in two separate bowls. In one bowl add your 1/4 cup beet puree and blend together until you have a soft, pink dough. In the other bowl add your 1/4 cup peppermint water and blend until you have a nice soft dough. Place both bowls in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes. 

Once the dough has set remove from the fridge and get ready for the fun part. (I'm sure you have been having fun up to this point, but this is the really fun part.) Using about a tablespoon or so of each colored dough, roll out about 4-5 inch dough ropes and twist the two colored ropes together to get the look of a candy cane. Place the candy cane cookies on cookie sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes. You want them to be firm but not brown when you remove them from the oven. Once they are out you can gobble them up as is or get a little sugary glaze (2 cups powdered sugar 1-2 tablespoons almond milk, whisk together) and dazzle up the cookies. Whatever you decide, I think that if you make these they will for sure become a holiday staple. Because they are effing delicious. :)